Adjustable tuning indicator for pedal-tuned kettledrums



Dec. 29, 1964 c. L. WHITE 3,163,076

ADJUSTABLE TUNING INDICATOR FOR PEDAL-TUNED KETTLEDRUMS Filed on. 29, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v/rm Arzgg/va Dec. 29, 1964 c; L. WHITE 3,163,076

ADJUSTABLE TUNING INDICATOR FOR PEDAL-TUNED KETTLEDRUMS Filed Oct. 29, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 67/419155 Z. W-V/TE United States Patent 3,163,9 76 ADEUSTAELE TUNRNG INDECATOR FUR PEDALTUNED KETTLEDRIUMS Charles L. White, 922 S. Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Get. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 339,789 Claims. (Cl. sa -ers) The present invention relates to an adjustable tuning indicator for kettledrums of the type which are tuned by vertical movement of a foot pedal.

A practical device of this type has never before been available. In my book entitled Drums Through the Ages published in 1960 by the Sterling Press, Los Angeles, California (Library of Congress Catalogue Card No. 6053596), ll discussed at page 163 to 171 thereof the requirements for a tuning gauge or indicator for the kettledrurns, or tympani, as they are sometimes called. While the general arrangement of such a device was schematically illustrated in that publication, a number of essential details were omitted for the reason that they were not known at that time.

The design of a commercially feasible tuning indicator poses problems which were not considered in the above mentioned publication. A commercial device of this type must be adjustable to meet a great many varying conditions. For example, standard sizes in which kettledrums are manufactured in the United States today include diameters of 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 inches. So a tuning indicator which is to have maximum utility must be usable with any one of these standard drum sizes. Furthermore, the standard kettledrurns are adjustable in height, in order to conform to the height of the player. A practical and useful tuning indicator must, therefore, continue to be usable with a particular instrument when the height of the instrument itself is adjusted from time to time to accommodate the convenience of different players thereof.

An additional factor which makes the standardization of a tuning indicator difficult is that the musical characteristics of the instruments were not constant. Where calfskin drum heads are used it is not possible to precisely control the thickness thereof, and the variations in thiekness which in fact do exist from one instrument to another result in differences in the natural pitch of the respective instruments. And even the pitch of a particular instrument of known characteristics is not constant. Thus during a performance indoors it is commonplace to experience a significant rise in temperature between the beginning and end of a performance, as well as some change in humidity, and these vaiiations produce a change in the pitch of the kettledrums as well as in the stringed instruments which are also generally used during the performance.

The main object and purpose of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a tuning indicator for pedal-tuned kettledrums, which can easily be adjusted for different drum sizes, different drum heights, and differing musical characteristics of a particular drum with which it is associated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing type which will be easily understood and used not only by expert drummers, but also by relative novices in the field.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing type which may be quickly attached to, or detached from, a particular drum, thus permitting a drummer who owns his own tuning indicator to use it with different drums which he happens to play from time to time.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description Patented Dec. 29, 1964 ice considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the invention in use on a kettledrum;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the keyboard portion of the tuning indicator of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectiona1 view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view of the entire tuning indicator;

FIGURE 7 is an end view of the keyboard;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view showing the connection of the tuning indicator to the drum pedal; and

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 9-9 of FIGURE 2.

As best seen in FIGURE 1 the conventional American kettledrum includes a rigid metal body 10 which is essentially hemispheric in shape, but deepened more than a true hemisphere. A membrane 11 of calfskin or plastic is stretched over the top of the drum body 10 to provide the drum head. An outer hoop 12 encircles the upper portion of the drum body 10 and engages and encompasses the downwardly turned outer circumferential portion of the drum head 11. Six tuning screws 13a 131 are circumferentially spaced around the drum body Jill, each tuning screw having base portions 18a and 181) which are attached to the drum body 16 and outer hoop 12, respectively, and having a threaded shaft and handle which are turned for controlling the spacing between the base parts and hence the movement of the outer hoop 12 and in this manner establishing the resonating frequency or pitch of the drum head 11.

Underneath support for the kettledrum is provided by a tripod 14 from which a threaded main shaft 15 projects upwardly and engages an attachment device 10a at the lower apex of the drum body 10. A pedal 16 is associated with one leg of the tripod, attached to the outer end of a pedal arm 17, and is moved up or down in order to vary the pitch of the instrument. While the means by which the vertical movement of the pedal changes the tuning of the instrument is entirely conventional and not a part of the present invention, it should nevertheless be.

pointed out that the pedal action moves a drive rod 17a, which in turn produces vertical movement of a concentric shaft housed within the main shaft 15, which in turn moves the rods 18c associated with the various tuning screws forraising or lowering the hoop 12 and thereby changing the pitch of the instrument.

The tuning indicator of the present invention includes, generally speaking, a lower coupling 20, a control arm 30, an indicator housing 40, a pointer plate 50, a keyboard 60, and an upper coupling 70.

Lower coupling 2i serves to drivingly couple the lower end of control arm 30 to the pedal 16. The lower coupling is of the universal type. i.e., the control arm 30 while rigidly driven up and down with the vertical movement of the pedal 16, is nevertheless freely rotatable in two mutually perpendicular vertical planes relative to the pedal 16 by which it is driven.

Control arm 30 has its lower end connected to the lower coupling 20 while its upper end is connected to the pointer plate 50. Control arm 30 includes a lower member 31 and an upper member 32 which are longitudinally movable relative to each other. Lower member 31 has an elongated slot 33 formed therein; and a pair of wing-nutted bolts 34 and 35 are carried by the upper member 32 and occupy the slot 33. It is therefore possible to loosen the wing-nuts and change the length of the control arm 39 before again tightening the wingnuts so as to establish a rigid member of precise length.

The indicator housing 4.0 includes an essentially pieshaped rear block 41; a similarly pie-shaped front block 42 of much lesser thickness; a junction block 43 attaching the lower extremities of the blocks 41 and 42 in spaced relations; and junction blocks 44 and 45 which hold the ends of the arcuate upper extremities together in the same spaced relationship. The details of this construction are best seen in FIGURES 2, 4, 5 and 7. The space between blocks 41 and 42 of the indicator housing is occupied, at least in part, by the pointer plate 5%.

Poir'iter plate 5% is, in general, pie-shaped, although it has specific and unique characteristics which will be described subsequently. At its lower apex the pointer plate 5%) is pivotally supported by means of a pivot screw 51 which passes through the blocks 42 and 41 of the indicator housing. The upper portion of the indicator or pointer plate is arcuate, like the indicator housing, but does not extend quite so far upward. At its upper lefthand corner, as seen in FiGURE 2 or FIGURE 6, the pointer plate has an extension portion 52 which actually serves as the pointer, for indicating a tone position on the keyboard 60. On its right-hand side the pointer plate 50 has an extending portion 53 whose periphery is arcuate, and of such radius of curvature that its focal point lies somewhat above the center of the entire pointer plate 50. The projection portion 53 of the pointer plate 50 carries, near its outer edge, a series of spaced holes 54a, 54b, 54g. 1

Keyboard 60 is an elongated flat strip of metal which is bent into an arcuate configuration, with its two ends being supported in a position spaced somewhat above the housing block 41, by means of spacing nuts 61 and 62 and screws 63 and 64, respectively. The position and the curvature of the keyboard 60 are such that the upper extremity of the pointer 52, in any angular position of the pointer plate 50, is aligned with the upper surface of the keyboard 60.

The keyboard 60 carries a plurality of movable note indicators or tabs, which are labeled for the notes which they respectively represent, as best seen in FIGURE 3. The positions of these note tabs can be adjusted simply by sliding them in one direction or the other along the length of the keyboard 60, so that they will correctly indicate the pitch of the instrument in the corresponding position of the pointer 52.

The upper coupling 70 includes, as its primary element, a sound insulating body 71, as best seen in FIG- URES 3, 4 and 7. The insulating body '71 has a flat surface which is securely attached, as by gluing, to the rear face of housing member 41, and has a curved and corrugated surface 71a which is of a proper radius of curvature to frictionally engage the drum body 10 throughout the entire length of the insulating member '71. Insulating body 71 may, for example, be made of rubber. Attached to respective ends of the insulating body 71 are eye-screws '72 and 73, which receive the inner ends of supporting springs 74 and 75, respectively. Each support spring is, at its outer end, hooked to a special support fastener 76, Whose purpose will now be described.

As previously mentioned each of the tension adjusting screws 13a 13] is adjusted individually to control the tension and hence the pitch of the drum head 11. This has long been standard apparatus in the American kettledrum. The purpose of special fastener 76 is to hook around the lower base portion 18a of one of these adjusting screws, but in removable relationship therewith. Thus, as best seen in FIGURE 1, the indicator housing with its associated keyboard and indicator plate is suspended between a pair of the adjusting screws, by means of the supporting springs 74 and 75 which are hooked by way of their associated fasteners 76 to the respectively adjacent adjusting screws. The spring tension serves to keep the insulating body 71 in firm contact with the drum body 10, thus providing good mechanical support for the indicator while at the same time pr..- venting undesired rattling in response to the drum vibration. The indicator housing is easily detached simply by unhooking the two special fasteners '76 and then later hooking them back on again to a different drum, or to a different location on the same drum.

One of the peculiarities of calfskin drum heads is their differing tuning characteristics throughout diiferent portions of the membrane. It is therefore sometimes desirable for the player to rotate the drum head (which is freely rotatable about the main shaft 15) in order to concentrate his playing on a different portion of the calfskin. The present invention makes this conveniently possible, since the fasteners 76 need only be detached, the drum rotated, and the fasteners re-attached at the new position of the indicator.

It will therefore be seen that the novel features of my invention which are disclosed and claimed herein, and which were not disclosed in my aforesaid publication, are the following:

(1) The adjustable length of the connecting or control arm 30.

(2) The noise-free, readily detachable arrangement of the upper coupling 76.

(3) The specific structure of the pointer plate 50.

The pointer plate 50 may be considered as providing two structural elements, a pointer and a lateral connecting arm for driving the same. In order to accomplish the purposes of the invention it is necessary that the lateral connecting arm for the pointer be of adjustable length. More specifically, the lateral distance between the point of pivotal connection of the upper end of the control arm 30 to pointer plate 5t and the point of pivotal movement of the indicator pointer (screw 51), must be adjustable, to be selected as the occasion requires.

But the pointer plate 56 provided in accordance with the present invention does even more than this. The holes or openings 54a 54g lie along a curved or arcuate path, not a straight line. While in the present illustration the upper end of control arm 30 is coupled to the opening 5401, it will be understood that the opening to which it is coupled is selected as circumstances may require. I have experimentally established the fact that not only is it necessary to change the radius distance of the (assumed) lateral driving arm for the pointer, but it is also necessary to change the angular relationship between this driving arm and the pointer. That is the reason why the openings 54a 54g lie in a curved path. It will be seen that as the upper end of control arm 30 is moved out away from the pivotal point 51, to a greater radius distance for the driving arm of the pointer, it is at the same time moved upward so as to decrease the angle between the pointer and its driving arm. The reasons for this relationship are perhaps too complex to explain here, and may possibly be without any completely clear scientific basis, as understood at the present time; but the fact remains that this relationship is useful and successful in providing a tuning indicator which works immediately and reliably for various kettledrums under various conditions, all as indicated in the foregoing description.

The invention has been described in considerable detail inorder to comply with the patent laws by providing a full public disclosure of at least one of its forms. However, such detailed description is not intended in any way to limit the broad features of principles of the invention, or the scope of patent monopoly to be granted.

I claim:

1. An adjustable tuning indicator for kettledrums of the type having a vertically movable pedal for tuning the pitch of the drum head, comprising:

mounting means for a keyboard and pointer removably attached to the side of the kettle, above the pedal;

a keyboard supported from said mounting means;

a pointer having its lower end pivotally supported from said mounting means beneath said keyboard, and its upper end adapted to move along said keyboard;

adjustable note indicating means on said keyboard for indicating the drum head pitch corresponding to various positions of said pointer;

a laterally projecting lever arm attached to said pointer;

and a substantially vertically disposed control arm having its lower end coupled by means of a universal joint to the pedal, and its upper end pivotally coupled to said lever arm;

said control arm being of adjustable length, and said lever arm being adapted for connection of said control arm thereto at any selected one of a plurality of radius distances from the pivotal mounting of said pointer.

2. An adjustable tuning indicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said lever arm has a plurality of arcuately disposed connection means formed thereon, the connection means for progressively increasing radius distances from the pivotal mounting of said pointer lying at progressively decreasing angular locations relative to said pointer.

3. An adjustable tuning indicator as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pointer and said lever arm are integrally formed from a flat plate.

4. An adjustable tuning indicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control arm includes a pair of members which are longitudinally movable relative to each other, one of said members having an elongated slot formed therein and the other of said members carrying releasable fastening means which occupies said slot.

5. An adjustable tuning indicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting means includes a sound insulating member adapted to engage the side of the drum body, and a pair of springs extending outwardly on respective sides thereof and adapted for attachment to respectively adjacent tension adjusting devices associated with the drum body.

Reierences Cited thy the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,282,406 10/18 Gardner 844l9 2,568,504 9/51 Ludwig 84419 OTHER REFERENCES White, C. L: Drums Through the Ages, Sterling Press, Los Angeles, Calif, 1960, pages 163471.

LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE TUNING INDICATOR FOR KETTLEDRUMS OF THE TYPE HAVING A VERTICALLY MOVABLE PEDAL FOR TUNING THE PITCH OF THE DRUM HEAD, COMPRISING: MOUNTING MEANS FOR A KEYBOARD AND POINTER REMOVABLY ATTACHED TO THE SIDE OF THE KETTLE, ABOVE THE PEDAL; A KEYBOARD SUPPORTED FROM SAID MOUNTING MEANS; A POINTER HAVING ITS LOWER END PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED FROM SAID MOUNTING MEANS BENEATH SAID KEYBOARD, AND ITS UPPER END ADAPTED TO MOVE ALONG SAID KEYBOARD; ADJUSTABLE NOTE INDICATING MEANS ON SAID KEYBOARD FOR INDICATING THE DRUM HEAD PITCH CORRESPONDING TO VARIOUS POSITIONS OF SAID POINTER; A LATERALLY PROJECTING LEVER ARM ATTACHED TO SAID POINTER; AND A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY DISPOSED CONTROL ARM HAVING ITS LOWER END COUPLED BY MEANS OF A UNIVERSAL JOINT TO THE PEDAL, AND ITS UPPER END PIVOTALLY COUPLED TO SAID LEVER ARM; SAID CONTROL ARM BEING OF ADJUSTABLE LENGTH, AND SAID LEVER ARM BEING ADAPTED FOR CONNECTION OF SAID CONTROL ARM THERETO AT ANY SELECTED ONE OF A PLURALITY OF RADIUS DISTANCES FROM THE PIVOTAL MOUNTING OF SAID POINTER. 